Excitations follow (or lead?) density scaling in propylene carbonate.

Structural excitations that enable interbasin (IB) barrier crossings on a potential energy landscape are thought to play a facilitating role in the relaxation of liquids. Here, we show that the population of these excitations exhibits the same density scaling observed for α relaxation in propylene carbonate, even though they are heavily influenced by intramolecular modes. We also find that IB crossing modes exhibit a Grüneisen parameter (γ) that is approximately equivalent to the density scaling parameter γ. These observations suggest that the well-documented relationship between γ and γ may be a direct result of the pressure dependence of the frequency of unstable (relaxation) modes associated with IB motion.